After The Fall
by Kronoskingofthemonkeypeople
Summary: Post WALK ON WATER. Yeah, I know it's probably now been done to death but I just really needed to write this, like really. Otherwise I would burst. So this is my version. Meredith fell into the water, Derek just talked to Bailey. What the hell happens?
1. Chapter I

**After the Fall – Chapter I**

"_And I don't know where to look,_

_My words just break and melt._

_Please just save me from this darkness,_

_Please just save me from this darkness."_

……

As surgeons we keep things from our patients. We agree to Doctor/Patient confidentiality, but we do not express to anyone out doubts, our fears, our hesitation. In order to keep the façade of our professionalism we must remain silent. We keep all our thoughts inside us, secrets we can never tell. But inside they grow and darken, filling our insides with doubt, so we are left alone, drowning in our own thoughts.

….

Derek shut the door of the ambulance and looked around the scene of destruction. Where was Meredith? The words of Bailey hanging in his mind. Ignoring the chaos around him Derek charged through the fray, looking from side to side for the light brown hair of Meredith.

Suddenly a flicker of blonde hair caught his eye. Pushing past a fireman Derek grabbed the hand of the little girl with ponytails as she walked absentmindedly passed him. Derek bent down as the little girl looked at him shocked.

"Hey there." Derek tried to say calmly as the anxiety began to tighten his stomach. "What happened to the woman you where with, Meredith?"

The girl was silent, and simply continued to look at Derek.

"Did you lose her?" Derek tried again.

She shook her head.

"Look," Derek tried to say as calmly as possible. "Where exactly is Meredith?"

The girl looked at Derek for a second then lifted up her hand and pointed to the pier. Derek stood up and held onto the girl's hand, moving towards the direction pointed. As he passed the crowd he suddenly saw a man laying on the ground, shivering as his leg was torn open. But he had a jacket on. A medical jacket.

Rushing past the crowd Derek ran up to the man and crouched down, picking up the jacket. Something hard brushed passed his hand, picking it up he saw it was an id card attached to the front of the jacket. Meredith's id card.

There was a poke of his arm. Derek looked around to see the little girl now pointing over the pier, into the water.

Derek's face fell.

Without realising what he was doing he tore off his jacket and dived into the cool, blue water below.

His ears popped and his head became light as it felt the pressure as Derek frantincally pushed himself deeper and deeper into the water. Blowing out the air with his nose, he opened up his eyes to the cold water and looked for any sign of Meredith.

Suddenly there was no air left. He felt his lungs begin to crush under the weight of emptiness, his head began to swim. With no more strength to give Derek thrust out his hand in vain.

It touched something.

Feeling for the hand Derek grabbed onto Meredith and pulled her upwards as he swam to air. Breathing in a gulp of water in vain Derek reached the surface.

"Help!" He gave a broken shout as he spattered out water and grabbed onto one of the fallen pieces of wood which floated on the surface, pulling Meredith onto it.

"Help!" He cried again.

Suddenly a head popped over the pier. It disappeared for a second then three other heads looked over. A lasu belt was thrown into the water and Derek wrapped it around him and Meredith as it started to get pulled and lifted them up out of the water. As they reached the pier Derek rolled Meredith onto the ground then quickly climbed up onto the pier.

"She has a weak pulse." Somebody said as they checked Meredith.

Derek quickly rused over to her and pressed her chest, once, twice, then breathed into her mouth. One of the men brushed him aside.

"You got no air to give, go rest." The man said quickly as he brought Derek back and began to press her chest.

Derek began to shiver from the cold but did not notice, his eyes fixed on Meredith as she lay on the pier, the others around her trying in vain to ressusatate her.

Suddenly the man looked up as he checked her mouth.

"She's breathing."

Derek felt as though he was about to collapse. Suddenly a group ran up with a gurney and pressed it down onto the ground, lifting her onto it then placing her oxygen mask over her mouth.

"Where are you taking her?" Derek asked frantically as he noticed what was happening.

"She needs to go to Seattle Grace." The paramedic turned around to him. "You coming?"

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**NB: I know, I know, I just really needed to write this story. Next chapter will up real soon. **


	2. Chapter II

**After The Fall – Chapter II**

Christina waited around the pit for a new ambulance to bring in a fresh round of patients and hopefully some sort of fantastic surgical case. Tapping her fingers together she heard the distant sound of an ambulance siren and began to smile.

Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was the Chief.

"Ah, Dr Yang." Christina smiled helpfully. "We need you inside, on the surgical wing."

"Why?" Christina looked confused. "I was told to stay in the pit. And there's an ambulance coming in now."

"We need you in the surgical wing." The Chief said again, this time forcefully.

Christina looked over her shoulder to the ambulance now coming around the bend then walked past the Chief and into the hospital.

The Chief watched her walk down the hall past a corner then swerved round to the ambulance that was now pulling up.

"How is she?" He asked quickly as the ambulance doors opened and Derek sprang out with Meredith on the gurney.

"Stable." Derek placed the gurney on the ground with the paramedic. "She hit her head on some of the wreckage and she went down but she's stable."

"What does that mean?" The Chief looked at Derek bluntly.

"She's in a coma." Derek felt the words fall out of his mouth.

"Ok…" The Chief looked at Meredith again. "Ok…take her into intensive care."

"I'm going." Derek tried to follow Meredith as she was taken into the hospital when an arm jutted out in front of him, holding him back.

"You have a surgery." The Chief looked at him seriously.

"I can't –!" Derek looked at him in shock.

"There was a horrific accident. There are massive amounts injured. There's a head trauma waiting for you to scrub in, everyone else is busy."

Derek opened up his mouth to protest.

"There is nothing you can do now, you know that."

Derek looked down the hallway as Meredith was wheeled out of sight then quickly brushed his red eye.

"Fine."

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The room was silent.

Alex sat next to Meredith as she lay on the bed, eyes closed as the intermittent beep of the stat monitor filled the room. Alex looked down at his fingers then sighed as he looked up at Meredith again, the breathing tubes protruding from her mouth.

"Hey there Mer." Alex murmured as he moved closer to her. "I tell you, that's some pretty nasty stuff you went through." Alex nodded to himself.

"You know, thank god Derek found you as soon as he did because otherwise you would still be down there. But I don't know what to say…there's a woman in the OR, a Jane Doe, her face got crushed and she's… No one knows who she is, none of her friends or family are here waiting for her downstairs, she's pregnant and she's alone…

I don't even know why I'm telling you this…but when I think about it, out of everyone in this hospital I think you're my best friend. There's Izzie, but she's, well, Izzie…but I guess I can just talk to you. You understand me, you know? Even though I'm an ass.

But guess what? I kissed Addison. Yeah, that's right, so you better wake up otherwise you'll miss Addison turning into a hypocrite and sleeping with the help. And trust me, you wanna see that."

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Mark crossed his legs as he sat on the chair in the intensive care room. Flicking through a magazine he looked up at Meredith as she lay in silence, the tape of the tracheal tube beginning to roll up on the edges.

"You get that I'm doing this for Derek, right?" Mark looked back at the magazine and sighed. "Jesus, talking to a coma patient." He mumbled to himself. Attempting to read the magazine, Mark flicked though some more pages.

"Derek has forced everyone to take turns sitting in this room in case you wake up. Derek himself was pulled kicking and screaming into surgery because there's apparently some sort of horrific accident, you know."

Suddenly Mark sighed and closed magazine, placing it on the stool next to him as he leaned back in the chair and put his fingers into a fist on his lap.

"Look, you can't die. What will happen to the Dirty Mistresses Club? I'll be forced to recruit the Chief. But you have to wake up, for Derek. He wouldn't be able to handle it if you didn't, I wouldn't be able to see him like that. So wake up. We need you and your adulterous ways."

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George sat up on his chair as he stared at Meredith anxiously, rubbing his fingers in a fist. Looking down at the floor he looked up again at her as she slept silently.

"Hey Mer, you ah, you can't die. I just…you can't die. We've been through some shit but we're still best friends. You're my family, and, I don't know how I'm going to get through if another part of my family dies."

George hung his head for a moment then looked up again. "And I know it's always you and Christina over there and me and Izzie over here, but you, you were the first person to actually congratulate me for my marriage and actually _mean_ it. The whole time there was this doubt, you know, and even now there's still this doubt. I mean, I can't tell Callie cause she'd freak, you know? But I don't know, I hope it works out. I do want it to work out; I really do, more than anything. Well, maybe not as much as I want you to wake up. Because I still love you, but now as a sister, which is a love that is greater, stronger. Something that can never be broken.

But you bet your ass I'll break it if you don't wake up."

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Christina looked around the intensive care room as she twiddled her thumbs. Looking back down to Meredith she quietly bit her lip.

"I'm engaged." Christina blurted out to the sleeping Meredith, hoping she'd wake up simply to laugh at her.

"Me and Burke, we're engaged. We're getting married. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, because I should have.

I just, I just need you to wake up, ok? Just wake up. I'm getting _married_, I need to be there with all your dark and twistyness otherwise I'd be left with Izzie as the bridesmaid and everything will be all pink and fluffy. Not to mention melodramatic when she's reminded of Denny. I will go crazy with all the _McMarriage _stuff so you better wake up or I'll personally kill you. And think about McDreamy! You can't leave us with him moping around and looking like some sort of sad puppy dog who's mum just died.

And I need you. I do. You're my best friend, and I've never done best friends, I'm just not a _best friends_ person. So wake up. Just, wake up."

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Derek sat hunched over in silence; his brow frowned in worry as he stared up at Meredith's silent face. Hands knotted in front of him he felt a knot in his throat and his eyes begin to sting. Quickly he looked up at the stats. Stable. Glancing over to the IV he held the unit in his hand and looked at how much was left.

He turned back to Meredith. Feeling the knot form once more Derek picked up his hand and hesitantly reached out for Meredith's cheek, twitching a bit as he first touched her skin. Moving closer again he softly stroked her chin and ran his fingers through her golden brown fringe. She didn't notice, her face remained the same, still in blissful slumber.

"I love you." Derek murmured out loud. "God I love you." He smiled to himself softly then frowned again as the expression on Meredith's face remained the same.

"So just…I'm sorry I chose Addison, I'm sorry I implied you were a whore, I'm sorry for the panties, for Doc, for the looks, for the anger, the frustration, I'm…I'm sorry for being an arrogant jerk 80 of the time. But I love you, _so much_…so much that I'm finding hard to breathe right now, so much that if I lose you…if I lose you, I won't be able to function, I'll just…"

Derek sighed and looked down, rubbing his eyes with his hand then running it through his hair. "I was your Knight in Shining whatever." He looked up at her again, eyes now stained red. "You _have_ to wake up."

Derek stopped breathing for a second as he listened for the sound of the stats. The steady beeps remained even. Letting out a shaken sigh Derek stoked Meredith's cheek once more then leant on the bed, holding his head in his hand as he listening intently to the sound of the heart rate as it echoed through the room.

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**NB: My god that has to be the strangest chapter I've ever written, as in, the _process_ of writing it, I was just bashing it out as fast as I could, for some reason with butterflies in my stomach. Was like some kind of drug. Really, really strange.**

**I just needed to get that out, _really_ needed to. But I hope you liked it. If so: review! If not: review! That's right! But I'd like to know _why_ you didn't like it, so I can improve next time. All I need now is Thursday. DAMN YOU SHONDA!! – actually, scratch that. Love Shonda. I'm all for Shonda. More Shonda I say. **


	3. Chapter III

**After The Fall – Chapter III**

"So what are we supposed to do…are we supposed to do something?"

Christina looked up to George and Alex as they sat on the floor, waiting against the wall outside Meredith's room.

"We can't do anything." Alex mumbled as he stretched forward and looked down the hall. "Just wait."

Christina peered around to the door of Meredith's room. "Well there's no way I'm going back in there with Derek still there. I'll drown in his soppiness."

"Please don't mention drowning." George ordered as he sat straight against the wall, hands knotted together in a fist in front of him.

"Where's Izzie?" Alex murmured deeply as he looked into the space in front of him.

"She's still there." George answered softly.

"How are we going to tell her," Christina looked over to the others. "I mean what, how do we tell her?"

"I don't know." Alex answered blankly. "We just tell her and see how she reacts I guess."

"Just hope she doesn't laugh again." George frowned.

There was another silence. None of them knew what to say, none of them _wanted_ to say anything. Just to sit in silence, listening to the faint echoes of Meredith's heart rate as they rested their heads against the walls. It was all they could hear, all they wanted to hear. They wanted to do something, wanted to help her, treat her medically, but all they could do was wait, and so they hung on every noise that came from that room, every second which passed with her still asleep in the room.

"What are you doing?"

All three looked up to see the Chief standing in front of them, hands on hips as he stared at them sternly.

"Don't you guys have surgeries to go to?"

"I was in the pit." Christina replied quickly.

"I didn't scrub in." Alex interjected after.

"So did I." George mumbled under his breath.

"Since when did _interns_ get to back out of surgeries? I am your _Chief_. I tell you what to do." He looked down at them as their faces remained the same, hanging down as they stared at the ground in wait. "_But,_" The Chief sighed. "I recognise this is an extremely extra-ordinary event. So you can sit. You can wait for Meredith."

"How is she?" Christina looked up at Burke.

"She's ok. They've drained out the rest of the water from her lungs and her stats are still stable. But she spent a lot of time under there without any oxygen. We can't possibly tell how much damage there is to her brain until she wakes up."

"_If she wakes up._" George murmured deeply.

Burke looked away down the hall for a second then sighed and nodded sadly. "Yeah."

Suddenly the silence was broken by the load beeping of the monitor in Meredith's room. Christina, Alex and George quickly stood up as a nurse rushed into the room.

"Code Blue!" They heard the broken shout of Derek in the room.

Coming to the door they rushed in to see Derek holding up his torch into Meredith's eyes as the heart rate began to increase.

"She's haemorrhaging." Derek looked frantically at her eyes. "We need to get her into an OR." Derek looked up at the Chief who was now helping the nurse roll out the gurney. "Who the hell forgot to give her a CT??"

The Chief helped push the gurney out of the room as the others stood aside in shock. "Derek– "

"She was knocked unconscious! Who the hell thought she didn't need a CT??"

"Derek, you said it yourself that it was a minimal lesion, no one could have known it would cause a haemorrhage."

"It's standard procedure!" Derek stood still in disbelief.

"Derek…"

"No.. I, I gotta scrub in." Derek ran his fingers through his hair and tried to follow Meredith's gurney down the hall as the arm stopped him again.

"There is no way in hell you are scrubbing in on that surgery." The Chief said slowly as he stared Derek down.

"You are not taking me away from her. I _have _to do this."

"That girl is like a daughter to me. I _promised_ her mother I would take care of her, and I am taking care of her now. Tyler," The nurse looked up from the station opposite. "Get Weller out of surgery and scrubbed in for Dr Grey's. Derek, you're scrubbing into Weller's temporal haemorrhage."

"I can't…I can't scrub into surgery right now." Derek quickly looked around nervously then back at Meredith.

"And yet you want to be Meredith surgeon. Derek," He looked up at him sadly. "We need you to do your job. There is nothing else you can do now. I'm sorry." The Chief looked up to the others as they stared in shocked silence. "_No one_ is going into that surgical gallery. Not even me."

Derek watched in strained silence as the Chief walked away with Meredith's gurney as it was rolled towards the surgical room. He wanted to run after, fix her so she would wake up and hold him in his arms again, run her hands through his hair, giggle at the touch of his stubble.

But all he had to do was stand there and watch as she was taken away from him once more.

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**NB: "I have disappeared." - OMG has anyone else seen the CTV preview for Grey's?? Watch it!! Oh my holy Christ, watch it!!!! **

**Cough.**

**Right, sorry about that. Ok, story. Well, Meredith's haemorrhaging. And I just want to tell you straight off, I'm not entirely sure whether she's going to survive. I mean seriously, right now I'm debating to myself whether she will live or die. So I don't know. I hope to god they don't kill her in the actual show, but in the fanfic…ok, maybe that's just too cruel. Sorry. Please review! Otherwise I'll just sit around and not be inspired to write, which trust me, it happens a lot. **


	4. Chapter IV

**After The Fall – Chapter IV**

George looked up at Derek as he once more paced down the hall for seven strides, turning left swiftly with once step then taking the other eight strides down the opposite direction.

"How long has it been?" George asked, surprised at the deepness and emptiness of his own voice.

"3 hours and 53 minutes." Derek replied quickly, turning again and walking the 2nd of seven strides.

"It's normal." The hollow voice of Christina came out as she sat next to George as they waited outside the surgical room for news. The hall was empty. There were still massive amounts of injuries but all the surgical ones were busy in surgery while the rest where in the pit getting sutures.

Alex stood up from leaning on the wall and looked down the empty hallway as a single nurse wrote something on the surgical board then scattered away, leaving her echoing footsteps with him, Derek, George and Christina.

"I can't just wait here. I have to go to the gallery."

George looked up at Alex. "The Chief said – "

"Stuff the Chief, she's our friend."

"No." Alex looked up at Derek who mumbled to himself. "You can't go. I can't, we can't see her like that. We have to wait."

Alex was determined to leave to he gallery but seeing Derek he felt a rush of empathy for the man as he continued to pace down the hall and run his hand once more through his now oily hair. Looking at the stairs to the gallery Alex sighed and sat back down next to George.

"There you are!"

Derek stopped pacing and looked up with everyone else at Izzie who was walking towards them, a flustered look on her face as she whisked the strands of hair fell out of her hurriedly made up bun.

"I was looking everywhere for you guys." Izzie rubbed her face with her hand and ran it over her hair, letting out a stifled sigh. Everyone looked up at her sadly, thinking that she had just been told about Meredith. "Jesus… I had to…there was this guy, under the car…" Izzie began to pace in place of Derek. "He was _stuck_ under a freaking _car!_ The search and rescue didn't come…It was just me and…Jesus… I…I had to drill _holes_ in the guys _head_!"  
Christina looked up at her sadly. "Izzie…" She said softly.

She kept pacing, oblivious to the awkward faces of her friends around her. "I had to… it's just that…I had to relieve the pressure in the guys _brain_ for god sakes!"

"Izzie. Stop." Christina said louder this time, the seriousness of her voice stopping Izzie as she looked at Christina curiously as the others looked at her in silence.

"What?" Izzie asked apprehensively, looking nervously at the faces of the others. "Where's Meredith?"

Derek hung his head and looked away. "She's…" Christina tried to begin. "She fell."

"What?" Izzie asked softly.

"She fell in the water. She was knocked unconscious and now she has bleeding in her occipital lobe. She's in surgery."

"Bullshit." Izzie mumbled darkly.

"Izzie…" Alex looked up at her, his eyes trying to make her see the truth.

"She can't…" Izzie began to falter, stumbling back a step. "How…how bad is it?"

Derek began to wander away from them down the hall, hunched over as his hands were stuffed in his scrub pant pockets.

"She's in a coma." George replied simply as he looked up at Izzie with eyes stained with red. "She was in a coma when she go here. But it was because of the bleeding, not the oxygen like we thought before." George tried to say reassuringly but slowly his words began to falter and tremble.

"How long?" The hollow words fell out of Izzie's mouth as she stepped back to the opposite wall.

"About four hours."

"Is it bad?" Izzie looked at them with trembling eyes. No one answered as they looked down. "Is it bad?" Izzie asked more forcefully, her words now trembling.

"We don't know." George replied simply.

Izzie slowly sat down on the ground and tried to get to grips with what had happened. Meredith was in surgery. She could die. At any moment she could just…die.

Suddenly Izzie felt a lump grow at the back of her throat as her eyes began to warm up. Feeling the wetness run down the side of her cheek, Izzie quickly wiped it away and sniffed up some air, clearing her nose.

Meredith isn't going to die. She can't die.

Suddenly the tense silence of waiting was broken by the sound of a door unlocking. Derek quickly looked around and pounced up to the door as the others pulled themselves off the floor to see Dr Weller standing at the door of the scrub in room, scrub cap still on and arms crossed.

"She made it."

Derek suddenly felt his eyes sting again and roughly rubbed his eyes and face with his hand in utter exhaustion. George simply stood in shock as Christina smiled for the first time for long time.

"But," Weller looked at them seriously. "We don't know whether she's still going to be in a coma. We fixed the bleeding but the damage could be still there. Add the haemorrhage with the loss of oxygen, it's not over yet."

Derek nodded studiously and put his hands on his hips impatiently. "So can we see her?"

"She's just been closed now and she's going to be taken to post OP. I'll give it an hour before you see her, the anaesthesia probably won't wear off for like two hours but still, you should give her some time before she gets visitors."

"What do you mean?" Christina replied angrily. "She's going to be unconscious anyway, why can't we just see her??"

"We'll wait." Derek relied softly to Weller. Nodding at the others thoughtfully Weller walked back into the scrub room and closed the door. The others were left alone again.

"What do you mean, _we'll wait_?" Christina put her hands on her hips as she glared at Derek. "We've been waiting this whole time!"

Derek put his hands in his pockets and walked slowly down the hall again. "She just went through brain surgery." He mumbled softly. "She needs some time alone."

The others looked sadly at Derek as he walked away from them slowly and turned the corner. "We should look after him." Alex said softly as Derek passed out of view. "We'll wait the hour."

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**NB: SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!! GREY'S TONIGHT!FU#$(T!($#T !!!!(!$# )!)!!!!!!! TEE HEEE HEE HEE!!!!**

**Ok, not excited at all. Not at all (also, is there any 'House' fans out there? Have you seen the preview for the next ep, HAVE YOU SEEN IT!!!!!) Sorry bout that. Anywho, GREY'S TONIGHTT!!!!! So hopefully you guys will read this but I doubt it cause you'll probably be just absolutely paralysed with excitement as I was a whole _two days_ after watching "Walk on Water". Ok, maybe not paralysed, but I wrote this in the aftermath, which I think explains everything. **

**Anywho, the question is whether I should finish off this story or just end it here, because it might seem redundant for some after watching "Drowning on Dry Land". So I don't know, give me a heads up to continue or not. Cheers!**


	5. Chapter V

**After The Fall – Chapter V**

Derek waited outside the ICU. Sitting down on the floor he stared at the blank space in front of him as he felt the tears mass once more in his eyes, as the lump in his throat grew tighter. Drawing in a shaken breath Derek wiped his face with his hand then covered his face in his hands, shutting his eyes as he slowly and shakily breathed in and out.

"Hey."

Derek looked up at Mark who stood next to him, looking down at him sadly. Derek looked down again and wiped his eyes once more. Mark looked over through the window of the door to the room where Meredith lay then slowly sat down on the floor next to Derek. The two sat in silence as stared at the door once more.

"I have to save her." Mark looked over at Derek as he murmured softly. "That's my job." Derek continued. "I have to…I have to save her. I can't sit here and wait, I have to do something. It's my…it's my job."

"Derek." Mark tried to pull Derek's gaze as he stared once more at the door and brushed away some tears. "Derek, look at me." Reluctantly Derek tore his eyes away from the door to Mark's concerned face. "_You_ saved her. _You_ dived into the freaking water and dragged her out. No one else was looking for except you. If you didn't look for her she'd still be lost, lying on the bottom of the damn harbour. _You saved her life_. You saved her."

Derek looked back at the door then put his head in his hands once more.

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"She can't die. She's Meredith for god's sake! She put her hand in a freaking bomb body and she still survived!"

The others watched in silence as Izzie paced quickly forwards and backwards down the hall. "But she could still remain in the coma." Christina mumbled weakly.

"Meredith can't be in a coma." Izzie quickly rebutted. "She's Meredith! She whines and moans and survives freaking everything! She'll be ok. She will. She'll wake up, you'll see."

"Izzie…" Alex looked up at her, concerned. "Just stop. Sit down or something."

Izzie ignored Alex and kept on pacing. "How long has it been? Can we go in now?"

George looked sadly at his watch. "We can go in soon." He replied with a hollow voice.

"Hey guys."

Everyone looked up to see Addison coming down the hallway as she hung her glasses back on her scrub top collar. "I got paged by the Chief. What's going on?"

The others shot nervous looks at each other as Addison stood in the middle of them, hands on hips as she looked at them sceptically. "Ok, no one's going to tell me? Fine, I'll just go on in." Addison made her way to the door of the ICU.

"Wait." Alex piped up quickly. Addison stopped and slowly looked round at Alex. Suddenly she noticed the macabre faces of everyone.

"What's going on?" Addison asked apprehensively. Christina looked away. Alex looked up at her again.

"It's Meredith."

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Mark looked up as the door opened down the hallway and Addison walked up to them, closing the door behind her. He could see her shocked face as she slowly walked up to them, brow frowned in thought.

"Hey" She said weakly to Mark.

"Hey."

Addison looked at the door then over to Derek as his dropped his hands and looked up in surprise at Addison. "Can I…?" Addison tried to speak, wondering why she was going to ask this question. "Can I…go in?"

Derek looked at her strangely, somewhat shocked then looked at the door again. Frowning at the floor again he nodded slowly. Mark looked up at Addison and nodded to her.

Watching Derek as he hung his head once more Addison shifted over to the door and put her hand in the handle. Slowly pushing it down Addison drew open the door and stepped in. Looking back quickly she saw Mark peering into the room and Derek with his hands on his head as he sat hunched on the floor, hanging his head. Addison closed the door behind her.

The ICU room was dark and quiet, the small beeps of the heart monitor and the slow pumps of air from the respirator filling the room with its only noise. In the middle of the room was the gurney where Meredith lay. Addison chocked back a cry as she laid her eyes on the tiny girl, the tubes of the respirator shoved down her throat, the IV hooked in from her wrist and her head bandaged from the brain surgery just before. She looked dead. The colour had run from her body as her face remained peaceful, even though the tracheal tube hung from her mouth.

"Jesus Meredith." Addison murmured in shock as she stood still in her place next to the door. Slowly she walked up to Meredith and looked up at her stats. Looking down again at the pale face of Meredith she sighed sadly then drew up a chair next to the bed and sat down.

"Come on Meredith wake up." She murmured softly. "Wake up. You can't leave Derek like this, you can fight it. I need you to wake up Meredith. You can do it. I don't hate you. I like you. Wake up."

Addison stared patiently at Meredith's face as it remained the same. Suddenly her heart rate began to beep faster then settled. Curious, Addison stood up and fished out her torch from her pocket, tentatively putting her hand to Meredith's face and opened up an eyelid, shining her light into it.

Suddenly the door crashed open.

"I heard the heart rate, is she awake??" Derek stammered as he rushed in the room then quickly stopped as he saw Addison leaning over Meredith.

"No." She replied with a hollow voice. "The anaesthesia worn off. But she's still asleep."

Derek stood in shock for a second, his face quickly turning grave. Suddenly he felt the frustration burn inside of him, his heart pumping faster and faster, his lungs tightening up inside him. Suddenly he punched the door of the ICU room as it swung open to the wall then swung back the other way.

"Dammit!" Derek spat.

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**NB: And holy holy shit, the ending! THE ENDING!!!!! I love Denny and Bomb Squad Guy but NO!!! MEREDITH CAN'T DIE!!!!! #sob# Ok, that was a seriously amazing episode but I should be talking about my fic here. And yes! In case you haven't just noticed, I am continuing it. So Huzzah! for that.**

**Writing this chap was strange because I didn't want to do another one of those monologue chapters again cause it's already been done. What I really wanted was to have Addison in there, and to see what she does. I didn't think she needed to say anything at all because the very act of actually _being_ there before anyone else goes in speaks millions. Because she does like Meredith. Hell, if McDreamy didn't exist they'd probably be good friends. But yeah, I just wanted Addison in there, cause let's face it, we all love Addison. Well, I do. **

**But shall stop rambling about crap: please review!! I've become all insecure and need to know what people think otherwise I'd just crawl into a ball of insecureness. Cheers!**


	6. Chapter VI

**After The Fall – Chapter VI**

Derek sat in the hallway outside Meredith's room as the interns waited inside it. Mark was still sitting next to him and they had managed to say nothing to each other for an hour. Suddenly they both looked up as they heard the ICU door open down the hall. Addison walked up to them with a pile of neatly folded clothes then chucked them to Derek.

"Here, put these on."

Derek looked at the pile of clothes in confusion as he held them in his hands then looked up at Addison. "No." He said simply.

Addison put her hands on her hips and stared down Derek. "Look, you need to change out of those wet scrubs."

"They're dry now."

"Yes, they are, but you still jumped into the harbour of Seattle with them on. I got your clothes out of your locker, put them on. There's no chance you're scrubbing into any surgeries now."

Derek remained seated and looked up at Addison with a hollow face. "I'm not leaving her."

Addison looked over her shoulder to the door of the room and sighed. "She's not going to be up in the 5 minutes it takes you to get changed. I'm sure she won't feel betrayed if you but a clean shirt on. Go."

Derek looked back down at the clothes then slowly got up, plodding to the bathroom down the hall. Addison watched him leave then sighed and ran her hand through her hair, joining Mark as she sat on the floor next to him and stared at Meredith's door.

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"What are you doing?"

Christina looked up at George as she sat next to Meredith's bed with the rest of the interns.

"I'm pacing."

Christina stared at him at confusion as he rushed from one side of the room to the other, biting his fingers as he stared fixed down at the ground.

"Could you stop?" Christina asked bluntly.

"I'm worried." George continued. "This is what you do when you're worried: you pace."

"You're in Mer's room, George. She's in a coma here. You think you could channel your worry in some other less-annoying way?"

George stopped and glared at Christina. "She could die at any minute. She's in a coma but she was under water for god knows how long. She could…she could die at any minute."

"She will wake up." Izzie said soothingly as she looked up at George as she sat at Meredith's bedside.

"You don't know that." George mumbled.

"She _will_ wake up." Izzie looked at George more forcefully then looked back at Meredith, clasping her cold hand in hers.

There was a silence among them as George stopped pacing and pulled up on of the chairs next to Izzie as she sat opposite Christina at the side of the bed. George looked up at her stats then back down to Meredith, frowning his brow as he concentrated on the breaths that the machine took for her. "Remember when we first moved in and went through all her mum's old surgery tapes?" George blurted out as he stared at Meredith's face.

The others all looked up at him. Christina smiled wryly. "She bitched about you to me all day after that."

"That's right," Alex piped up as he sat in silence next to Christina. "Heh, Mer and the penis."

George smiled softly at Meredith. "And then there was that time when she made us wait for her when she told Derek to _'pick me'_. "

"Oh!" Izzie quickly interjected as she sat up in her seat. "Remember how she got spurted by like bowel juice wen we found out about Shepherd?"

"And when she was drunk when there was the train crash." Christina smiled and shook her head slowly as she looked down at Meredith.

"And when she was on morphine." Alex smiled. "Dude, she was seriously off her face."

George's face started to flush. "That was a very embarrassing experience." He moved uncomfortably in his chair. The interns smiled at him then down at Meredith again. Suddenly the door opened and a rush of light came through.

"How is she?"

The others looked up to see the silhouette of Derek as he stood anxiously at the door.

Alex shook his head slowly. "Still asleep."

"Oh." Derek looked awkwardly over his shoulder at Addison and Mark then back ti to the interns. "Ok… Ah, can I… can I come in?"

Alex stood up from his chair and Izzie and George followed. Christina looked back at Meredith, squeezed her hand slightly then got up with the others and walked out of the room, leaving Derek alone with Meredith.

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**NB: So now I think the whole thing with this fic is to highlight the importance of Meredith to these guys, not just the fact that she's the main character. So I put in reminiscing. Because that's what people do. We reminisce. All the time. In fact, I'm up for some reminiscing myself. **

**And Addison is worried about Derek. Which, let's face it, I would be too. And wearing those dirty, dirty scrubs, I think Addie is an angel. But what the fuck am I saying now? Got absolutely no idea to tell you the truth. Please review!!! Your reviews will fill me better than the pizza I am just about to get! Mmmm…reviews!**


	7. Chapter VII

**After The Fall – Chapter VII**

Derek listened as Christina closed the door behind her then turned to Meredith who lay oblivious on the bed. Following the IV from her wrist, up to the vial then over to the breathalyser which connected to the hose which ran finally to the tube hanging limply out of Meredith's mouth, Derek took in a shaky breath and quickly had to sit down in the chair next to her as he felt his knees tremble beneath him.

Hunched over in his chair Derek held up his shaking hands to his face then quickly tried to stop them by clenching them together in a fist.

Looking up at Meredith's face his breathes became more shaken until he quickly grabbed her hand in his, held it up to his mouth and kissed it gently.

"I can't do this." Derek mumbled as he looked down at her limp hand in his. "You have to…I can't…" Derek finally looked up at Meredith's blank face again. "I can't do this without you. I wouldn't know what to do. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't work, I couldn't bake…I would just be…nothing. I just…I cannot imagine any life I would live if you were not there with me."

Derek felt his hands tremble again and lightly placed Meredith's hand back onto the bed as he looked up at her face and tentatively brought his hand to her forehead and gently stroked her hair back. "Wake up." Derek murmured. "Wake up for your stupid, arsehole McDreamy."

Her eyes shot open.

Derek sprang back in utter shock as his chair fell backwards on the floor.

She was looking at him. Her eyes were wide open and she was looking at him.

There was a loud beep. And again, and again, getting faster by the moment. Her eyes closed again.

Derek suddenly fell forwards to Meredith, holding her face in his hands as he tried in vain to wake her up again, but her face was in oblivion as it had been for hours before.

The door crashed open. Derek could hear the rush of people into the room, the pulsating screech of the monitor still throbbing in his ears. "She opened her eyes." Derek looked at Meredith's face in vain once more. "She…her eyes were – "

"Derek…"

Derek looked up at Bailey when he suddenly noticed that the beeping had stopped, and that it had been replaced by a single, long, screeching note.

"Derek get out of the way." Bailey ordered frantically as she pulled up the crash cart and picked up the paddles, pulling down the sheets on Meredith's bed and shocking her.

Derek watched her body stiffen up and leap slightly from the bed as he felt himself gently be pulled away from the side of her bed over to the wall.

"I have to…" Derek murmured in shock.

Mark moved in front of him and looked him in the eyes. "No Derek, you have to stay here. _We_ have to save her."

Derek remained standing he stared past Mark over at Meredith who was leaping rigidly off the bed once more as Bailey put down the paddles. There was a beat but it stopped again. Bailey shocked her again. Meredith's body became stiff again then stopped.

"300." Bailey's words vibrated dully in Derek's ear. The crash cart was charged, Meredith was shocked again. Nothing.

"Charge again!" Suddenly Christina shouted from the other side of the room as she was being held back by Alex from charging over to her bedside.

"Christina." Alex tried to reason with her but the words fell limp as Alex looked over at Meredith again.

"No!" Christina barked angrily as she felt her eyes beginning to glaze over. "No! Try again!"

Izzie grabbed on to George's hand as she stood in shock next to Alex and Christina, her hand covering her mouth as the tears built up around her red eyes. Bailey looked over at them then pressed the button on the crash cart as it charged once more. Biting back a cry as she looked at Meredith's face once more as she brought down the paddles to her chest, Bailey looked up at the stats again.

Nothing.

Bailey didn't need any more outbursts to make her quickly turn back to the crash cart and turn it up to 350. Biting back her pain once more she shocked Meredith. And again. And again. And again.

The single note remained unbroken.

Ignoring the cries of the others that thudded dully in her eyes, Bailey slowly brought out her stethoscope and placed it in her ears, slowly bringing down the diaphragm to Meredith's chest as she heard her own blood thumping in her eyes. Bailey listened through the stethoscope and suddenly felt her stomach turn sick. Her eyes began to sting as a lump formed in her throat, choking her words.

"She's gone."

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**NB: …..jesus. Please review.**


	8. Chapter VIII

**After The Fall – Chapter IIX**

"She's gone."

"No!" Christina shouted from the side of the room as she pushed herself away from Alex's grip over to Meredith's bed. Izzie fell back into the chair in shock. Addison quickly grabbed on to Alex's hand for comfort.

Bailey chocked back for a second then looked up at the clock, delirious as to what had happened. "Time…"

"Don't say it." George growled from the side of the room, as he stood ridged, his hands clenched in fists.

"Time of – "

"No!" George shouted.

"Time of death 23:47." Bailey quickly chocked back as she turned away from the bed and stumbled over to the side of the room, grabbing onto the wall for support. Christina grabbed Meredith's hands and shook them in her hands, trying in vain for her to wake up once more. "Meredith, Meredith no. You can't, please, you can't do this."

Derek was numb. Feeling his knees quake underneath him he blindly grappled onto Mark's arm for support as he sank down to the floor into nothingness. Mark followed him down to the floor as he sat in a heap, eyes fixed on Meredith as Christina buried her face in her sheets.

Derek heard the throbbing of blood through her ears, his body numb as he could tell Mark was saying something to him, but it all sank into a hollow noise in his ears. The lights began to blur as the room became darker and darker. He could feel Mark shaking him but it did not process in Derek's mind. All here could hear was the hollow drone of the stat monitor.

His mind was empty.

_Meredith_.

Alex felt a head quickly burrow itself on his shoulder. Looking down at Addison he stroked her red hair then pulled her into a hug, not sure if it was for her comfort or for his. George stood alone, fists still clenched in anger, trying desperately to fight the tears that threatened to burst out. Izzie burrowed her head in her hands in disbelief. Her red eyes dry in shock, listening intently to the silence of the room, Christina breathing in slowly, Alex's hand stroking Addison's hair and Derek's shaken breaths. Beep.

Izzie shot up. Christina quickly looked up at Meredith then backed away slowly, staring at the monitor.

Beep.

Addison pulled away from Alex and quickly stared at the monitor. Bailey turned around from the wall. Mark looked up from Derek.

Beep.

Suddenly Derek felt his stomach tighten. He began to breathe in deeper and slower as he stared at the ground and listened to the beeps that interrupted the silence in the room. He was afraid to look up lest it be a dream.

Beep.

Quickly Derek shot his head up. Christina stood back with the others in shock as they all stared fixedly on the monitor as slowly, but surely, a heartbeat appeared once more. And again. And again.

Derek grabbed Mark's arm then pulled himself up from the floor, stumbling over to Meredith's bed in shock, an unimpressible smile forming on his face as the beeps became quicker as he approached her.

Suddenly Meredith quivered. Derek quickly came up to her as he could hear the others begin to approach from behind.

She squirmed a bit and let out a stifled cough. Derek swiftly turned off the breathalyser as she coughed again then softly unconnected the tube, pulling out the rest from her mouth as she coughed again on the tube. Derek quickly placed the tube on a counter then bent down closer to Meredith, eyes fixed on her own eyes as she began to breathe normally.

Her eyes began to quiver. Derek held back his breath as he could feel his eyes beginning to warm.

Sleepily, Meredith's eyes fluttered as she moaned lightly then lifted up her hand to rub her eyes. But the hand stopped. Her IV stopped her hand in mid air. Confused, Meredith shot open her eyes and glared sleepily at her hand. Suddenly her eyes became confused.

"What the?"

Derek grinned at her, his joy overflowing as he quickly grabbed her face and pulled her into a kiss. Meredith simply stared blankly in confusion then looked around her surroundings inquisitively as Derek hugged her tightly. She could feel warm drops on her shoulder as she looked over at everyone who stood around her bed, all seemingly smiling manically at her.

"Ah, what's going – "

"Jesus Meredith!" Christina quickly burst out.

"What?" She looked confused at she stared at them over Derek's shoulder as he continued to hug her tightly.

"You were dead." Izzie began to laugh through her tears. "You were freaking dead Meredith!" Izzie beamed at Meredith. "And you came back! Holy crap Mer, you actually came back!"

"I'm engaged!" Christina burst out.

Meredith looked over in confusion at Izzie then at Christina then Addison who stood smiling at her uncontrollably. Finally Derek let go and pulled back from Meredith, wiping away his tears.

"Promise me," Derek stroked away her hair from her eyes. "Promise me you will never do that again."

Meredith looked at Derek in confusion then suddenly looked at him sceptically. "You didn't save me again, did you?"

Derek's smile faded for a second as the pain of before flashed on his face. Quickly he flashed a smile again at Meredith, brushing aside her hair once more.

"No Meredith," He looked at her sadly as he forced a smile. "You…you saved yourself."

_Fine._

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**NB: Well, that's the end. Yes, it actually is. And that's basically what I think's going to happen next ep. Well, that's what I _hope_ will happen. And I know that the last lines up for Corny Lines Anonymous but I just think it suited with the "Walk on Water" and the whole _Knight in Shining Whatever_ thing. **

**Anywho, I hoped you liked that fic as much as I loved writing it! And yes, Meredith did die for a moment there. And _yes_, it does happen, people coming back to life suddenly. I actually know someone who has been dead for 8 minutes. Freaky. **

**But I'd like to take this time (as I now officially do) at the end of this story by giving a shout out to all those avid reviews of this particular story:**

**_nfinchamsceff: _The champion little leprechaun, great to know that you got into the story! **

**_Fell Dragon: _For making the leap over to a post-"Walk On Water" fic.**

**_Othrox: _For some reason the name makes me smile. Don't even ask me why.**

**_RBDFAN:_ The master of short and succinct.**

**_mrs. derek mcdreamy: _cos you rock. And because I'm always amused at the thousands of variations people have for their username to indicate they are either married to Derek or Patrick.**

**And of course _Lizzie9:_ You guys are champs but you already know that, don't you? Always they're commenting like crazy on all my fics. Cheers. **

**Well, back to writing! (not this story of course). But only one day till "Some Kind Of Miracle"!! – way to give a hint Shonda.**


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